The Van Life Money Calculator™

The Van Life Money Calculator™

You've done the research.
You still don't know if you can afford this lifestyle.

Here's why: You have information. What you don't have is YOUR numbers.

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The real problem

There's a fear that doesn't get talked about
in the van life community.

It's not the fear of being alone on the road. It's not the fear of giving up your house.

It's the quiet, middle-of-the-night fear that you'll run out of money. That one transmission failure — one bad month — will be the thing that sends you home. That you'll get this far, want this badly, and still have to quit.

Nearly 80% of people who start van life don't make it past year one — not because they didn't love the freedom, but because they budgeted for life and forgot to budget for disasters.

They planned for gas and groceries. They didn't plan for:

  • The $3,500 transmission failure in Montana
  • The month a client disappeared and income dropped 40%
  • The family emergency that required a last-minute flight home

Budget Burnout happens when life throws you ONE curveball and you have no safety net.

C

I know this because it happened to me. I'm Catina Borgmann — full-time vanlifer and Enrolled Agent, a federally credentialed tax professional. And my van repairs still drained my emergency fund and took me off the road. So I built a better system.

The solution

Introducing The Van Life Money Calculator™

This isn't another budget template. This is the math that tells you — specifically, with YOUR income and YOUR expenses — whether you can sustain this lifestyle. Exactly what to save before you launch. And if you're already on the road, it's not too late. Building your buffers now is always better than waiting for the curveball.

The heart of the calculator is the 3-6-9 Buffer™ — a three-layer financial safety net built for solo women on the road. Because out here, you are your own backup plan.

3
3-Month
Living Fund
6
6-Month
Freedom Fund
$900
Breakdown
Buffer

The calculator shows you exactly how to build it — and how much you need based on YOUR life.

What's included

Everything you need to do the math.

📄
The 3-6-9 Buffer™ Breakdown (PDF)
My proprietary framework that shows you exactly how much to save in each layer, when to use it, and how to build it strategically — whether you're launching in 3 months or 3 years.
The 3-6-9 Buffer™ Breakdown PDF Guide
📊
The Van Life Money Calculator™ (Interactive Google Sheet)
Plug in YOUR numbers. Get YOUR traffic light. The spreadsheet calculates your exact buffer amounts, compares your current life expenses to van life costs, and tells you — with a green or yellow light — whether you're ready to launch. No more guessing if $2,000/month is enough.
Woman using The Van Life Money Calculator spreadsheet on laptop
🎬
EA Insight Training Video
As an Enrolled Agent — a federally credentialed tax professional — I approach numbers with precision, not guesswork. In this video I walk you through the entire spreadsheet, show you how the 3-6-9 Buffer™ works in practice, and explain exactly how to read your results. The research is already done — fuel costs, campsite rates, Starlink pricing — it's all in there. You don't have to Google 50 van life budget articles.
EA Insight Training Video for The Van Life Money Calculator™

Investment

$37
  • Less than a tank of gas
  • Less than one night in a paid campground
  • Less than a tow truck — and when you need one, you'll actually be able to pay for it

Digital product. All sales final.

Questions

Frequently asked.

When you open the file it will prompt you to make a copy. Save it where you can find it — it's yours to use and return to anytime.
The calculator has protected cells to prevent accidental changes that could break the formulas. If you receive a warning when trying to edit a cell, that's intentional — enter your numbers only in the designated input cells. If something has already been changed and the formulas aren't calculating correctly, go back to your original purchase email, open the file link again, and make a fresh copy to start clean.
No. The free template helps you track monthly expenses. The Van Life Money Calculator™ builds your entire financial foundation using the 3-6-9 Buffer™ system and tells you — specifically — whether you can sustain van life with your current income. It's the difference between tracking spending and knowing if the math works.
This gives you the math. Mentoring gives you personalized strategy, accountability, and someone to think through the hard decisions with you. Think of this as the prerequisite — it helps you know exactly what questions to bring to a Compass Call when you're ready for that next step.
If you can fill out a form, you can use this. The Google Sheet is pre-built. You plug in your numbers — it does the calculations for you. The training video walks you through every step.

You've done the research.
Now it's time to do the math.

You've consumed the content.

You know van life is possible.

Now get YOUR numbers.